It may have appeared that the Media History Digital Library has been quiet since the release of the Lantern search, but much has been going on behind the scenes.

A recent trip to Los Angeles has brought with it the donation of the missing 1950s and early 1960s volumes of SMPTE to the cause, thanks to Dino Everett at the Hugh Hefner archive at USC. And a visit with the Head of Technical Services at the Margaret Herrick Library will result in some small-scale projects to start soon and pay off early next year.

And from the endless collection of the ever-generous Karl Thiede came some treasures - the final 20 years of a minor, but beloved, trade publication and a number of issues of house organs - the industry-only publications that producers created to engage exhibitors on their product.

In the meantime, the topic at hand is American Cinematographer. After several false starts, I am trying to pull together a complete set of issues for scanning from the beginning through (for now) 1963. We have seven years online now (1924, 1926, 1931, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942) courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, but I want to start from the very beginning.

That is our next project. If anyone has any issues prior to 1923 available for loan, please let me know.